Everything is white.
Not the soft, gentle white of clouds or hospital sheets.
This is a blinding, burning white that erases edges, erases sound, erases even the idea of up or down.
I'm floating in it, weightless, bodiless, only pain keeping me tethered to existence
And then he's there.
The real Kiyoshi.
Not the teasing, grinning version from the rooftop dream.
This one is different.
His eyes are bloodshot.
His uniform is torn and stained with something dark.
His fists are clenched so hard the knuckles are white.
The bandages on his arms are soaked through, dripping red onto the endless white floor that wasn't there a second ago.
He doesn't speak at first.
He just walks straight up to me and slaps me across the face with all his strength.
The crack echoes like a gunshot.
My head snaps to the side.
I taste blood.
Real Kiyoshi (voice raw, trembling with pure rage)
You son of a bitch.
You let her die.
You let my Kiyomi die.
The words aren't shouted.
They're quiet.
That's what makes them lethal.
I drop to my knees.
Me
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm—He grabs the front of my shirt and yanks me up, slams another fist into my stomach.
It's a dream, right?
So why does it hurt so much?
But the pain isn't in my body.
It's in the hollow space where Kiyomi's laugh used to live.
It's in the silence where her footsteps should be.
It's in the knowledge that I waited six hours on the couch like an idiot while someone took her from me forever.
He punches again.
And again.
Each blow lands in the same place: the gaping wound in my chest where my sister was.
Real Kiyoshi
You promised.
You promised you'd stay.
You promised you'd keep her safe.
And you just sat there.
Tears are streaming down his face now, mixing with the blood from his split lip.
Real Kiyoshi
She trusted you.
She loved you.
And you let him take her.
I can't even defend myself.
I just curl forward, arms wrapped around my ribs, sobbing like a child.
Me
I know.
I know…
I was scared.
I was weak.
I thought if I hid, it would be okay.
I thought—Another punch.
This one sends me sprawling into the white.
He stands over me, chest heaving, eyes wild.
Real Kiyoshi
I'm running out,,, of time.
I have so,, much to,,, tell you.
So much ,,,you need,, to know.,,,
He reaches down like he's going to pull me up, then stops.
The white starts cracking.
Black veins spiderweb across the endless light.
Real Kiyoshi (voice distorting, desperate)
Listen—
DON'T try to save Hana again—
DON'T talk to—
DON'T—His words turn into static, into howling wind, into nothing.
I reach for him, but my hands pass through smoke.
The last thing I see is his face—pure, helpless fury turning into something that looks like fear.
Then everything collapses into black.
Absolute black.
No up, no down, no pain, no light.
Only voices.
Two of them.
Calm.
Clinical.
Amused.